Air valves controlling the flow of air in ventilation systems are commonly found in a variety of applications, such as in vehicles, industrial equipment, exhaust ducts, etc. Conventional air valves generally rely on driving flaps or louvers to open and close apertures for controlling flow. Often the flow control mechanisms for actuating the flaps or louvers are located outside of the duct in which the flap is controlling air flow, and typically occupies a relatively significant amount of space. Moreover, common air valves rely on electrical stepper motors or other bulky drive mechanisms for actuating one or more flaps that increase the form-factor and weight of the air valve system. As an example, consider a common air valve of an automotive ventilation system 100 of FIG. 1. As shown, a flap 104 is configured to control the flow of air, for example, through duct 102 to provide heat and air conditioning inside a passenger compartment. Actuator 106 is connected to flap 104 to control the flow of air in duct 102. As is shown, actuator 106 extends out from the interior duct to a remote drive mechanism 108, which generates a motive force for translating actuator 106 to control the position of flap 104. With drive mechanism 108 and actuator 106 located substantially outside of duct 102, a significant amount of space is consumed in providing for control of flap 104. So, the use of traditional air valves in systems like automotive ventilation system 100, as well as other traditional vent control systems, typically increases the size and the cost of the overall system because of additional space requirements to accommodate such bulky valve control systems.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is an apparatus and method for the control blocking and partial blocking of an aperture, such as a ventilation duct, to overcome the above-described shortcomings existing in the prior art.